Best Picks: Nov. 17–Nov. 30

Every day I walk past Prince’s gold-painted star on First Avenue. I wasn’t always a devoted fan of the legend himself, but as a local, I’ve always been fond of Prince because of his choice to live and work just outside the Twin Cities when most celebrities live in star-studded cities. Now, months after his passing, I still have a newspaper cover tacked on a wall in my home, a daily reminder that, as Prince once said, “A strong spirit transcends rules.”

The musician’s Paisley Park in Chanhassen, just 30 minutes outside Minneapolis, opened for public tours in November. Tickets are now available for general admission and VIP tours through March 31, 2017 at officialpaisleypark.com.

To me, the tours sound like a fascinating opportunity to scratch the surface of a figure who is both one of the state’s most famous faces — all of us have a friend with a Prince story — and one of its most mysterious. Guests get a peak inside his video editing suites and mixing studios where Prince was grooming protégées like Judith Hill (did you catch her when she was on “The Voice”?) and 3rdeyegirl (the trio that backed him and Lianne La Havas on “Saturday Night Live”). On Friday and Saturday evenings beginning in December the building will also have Paisley Park After Dark nights with dance parties inside Prince’s NPG Music Club. Partiers can check out Prince movies and never-before-seen performance footage of Prince each weekend.

If you walk past the star yourself and get the inkling, there are tours available on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and weekends all day.

Workin’ on our Night Moves

Night Moves has come a long way since 2012 when the Minneapolis group released their debut album, “Colored Emotions,” and were immediately decreed one of the city’s best new bands by both First Avenue and City Pages. Now the group has signed with London-based label Domino Record Co. (Animal Collective, Arctic Monkeys, Dirty Projectors) and, just earlier this year, released sophomore record “Pennied Days.”

The LP features writing from the band’s principle members, frontman John Pelant and bassist Micky Alfano, and production from John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth). “Pennied Days” follows tours with buzz-worthy musicians like Minnesota-born Poliça, London-based Django Django and fellow folk rocker Father John Misty — and the album shows a wide variety of such influences. Lead track “Carl Sagan” is bouncy and spacey, a striking contrast to its cinematic, even tense music video. Pelant’s emblematic voice, which moves from a raspy twang to a Bee Gees falsetto, goes its full range on the album with tracks like country-infused folk ballad “Kind Luck” and “Alabama,” a powerful, piano-backed classic rock song. For Night Moves fans, tracks like “Denise, Don’t Wanna See You Cry,” don’t stray far from the band’s well-known “Colored Emotions” song “Horses” with its driving, eclectic funk-rock sound.

Before kicking off a U.S. tour with Twin Cities’ own Haley Bonar, Night Moves will play First Avenue’s 7th St Entry on Wednesday, Nov. 23. After that, the band will get its first shows in the United Kingdom with a European tour across England, Germany and the Netherlands in January.

Beer on the brain

If you’ve ever found yourself curious about that beer in your hand, the North Loop’s Modist Brewing Co. is giving a crash course into what goes into each glass. The brewery’s six-week beer education program, led by education specialist Paige (Latham) Didora, will feature guest speakers, an in-depth look at brewing equipment and don’t forget about beer samples. Over six hour-long sessions, students, whether they be beer lovers or brew connoisseurs, will learn about the history of malting, where beer can go wrong and how to pair brews with food, among other topics. A $50 ticket gets you admission into all six courses, held each Monday between Nov. 21 and Jan. 2, 2017 at 7 p.m. at Modist. An hour before and after each class the taproom will have a social hour just for participants to do a little studying over a pint.